With the quantum computing market forecast to snowball from $93m this year to $283m by 2024 — that’s a compound annual growth rate of 24% — it’s no surprise at the excitement over the potential the technology could bring to the table with the recent deluge in funding.

‘A year ago, it would have been difficult to pick out the promising companies. There was this concern that Europe was falling behind everyone else; that we would miss the global rush. But now, hope is strengthened. It’s no longer a flagship that’s emerging, but a quantum fleet.’

Dark Cloud

All around Europe startups are sprouting up at a rapid pace. In Germany and the UK. In France and Poland. Although not on the scale as in North America, it is still positive news for the industry.

This is all going on under a dark cloud because Europe’s best minds are turning their backs on the Old Continent and heading to Silicon Valley. One British startup, PsiQ, is a case in point — the entire team recently jumped ship, seeing they had much better prospects in California, where venture capital funds are more abundant and there’s the chance to work with some of the best minds in the industry.

Research hubs have sprung up in Glasgow, York and Birmingham, which will each use their share of the funding to further research specific areas of QC. There is now a collaboration between over two dozen universities and 100 strategic partners within the industry.

As Brexit looms closer and the Americans and Chinese continue their technological race for supremacy in AI, quantum architectural systems and 5G infrastructure, there could be a danger that both the UK and Europe will suffer from a further brain drain of talented physicists and quantum engineers, willed on by the mouthwatering salaries and potential for professional development on offer across the Atlantic Ocean.

So it is up to our European governments and investors in the end not to let that happen, by pumping money into university research and the startups.